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© 2026 CompareLLM. Public benchmark data aggregated from Arena Elo, LiveBench, SWE-bench & OpenRouter.

Every score has a dated snapshot.

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  3. Claude Opus 4.5 vs Thinking Machines: Inkling Small

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 17, 2026noindex (thin pair)

Claude Opus 4.5 vs Thinking Machines: Inkling Small benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, Thinking Machines: Inkling Small is more budget-friendly at $1.2/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: Choose Claude Opus 4.5 if your priority is peak reasoning, complex code generation, and top preference Elo. Choose Thinking Machines: Inkling Small if you are optimizing for low latency, high throughput, and cost-efficient API deployment.
Share Analysis:
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Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5

Anthropic frontier coding and computer-use model. SWE-bench leader on the official mini-SWE-agent harness in the Feb 2026 refresh.

Elo 1,568$25/1M out
thinkingmachines
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small

Auto-discovered from OpenRouter (thinkingmachines/inkling-small). Preview until a second source matches.

$1.2/1M out

Claude Opus 4.5 Thinking Depth & Cost Scaler

Simulate accuracy gains vs added response time & token cost

Mode: Medium (16k budget)

Reasoning models “think before answering” by generating internal reasoning tokens. Higher effort improves math, coding, and logic accuracy, but increases response delay and token costs.

Thinking Delay
380 ms
Standard speed
Reasoning Depth
~3,200
Internal tokens
Cost / 1k Calls
$90.00
9.0× standard bill
Accuracy Boost
+5.2% accuracy
STEM & SWE-bench
Top Rival Showdowns for Claude Opus 4.5
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs GPT-5vs Gemini 3 Provs Grok 4.6vs DeepSeek V4 Provs Qwen 3 Max
Preference Leader

No shared data

Single model data

Throughput Leader

No shared data

No latency data

Value per Dollar Leader

Thinking Machines: Inkling Small

$1.2 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Capability Matchup Radar

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Each spoke is a skill. Farther from the center is better (0–100th percentile). Tap any dot to inspect details.

Tap any node to inspect
Percentile 0–100
Dimensional AdvantageClaude Opus 4.5 4/6
Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

Claude Opus 4.5 (7)vsThinking Machines: Inkling Small (3)
Claude Opus 4.5: 7W (70%)Overall: Claude Opus 4.5Thinking Machines: Inkling Small: 3W (30%)
← Claude Opus 4.5Thinking Machines: Inkling Small →
Claude Opus 4.5 (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo
1,568vs—
Coding Elo
1,574vs—
SWE-bench
76.8%vs—
LiveBench
71.2%vs—
GPQA Diamond
84.1%vs—
Claude Opus 4.5: 5WThinking Machines: Inkling Small: 0W
Claude Opus 4.5 (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed
62 tok/svs—
Time to first token
380 msvs—
Claude Opus 4.5: 2WThinking Machines: Inkling Small: 0W
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (3/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price
$25/1Mvs$1.2/1M
Input price
$5/1Mvs$0.45/1M
Context window
200kvs524k
Claude Opus 4.5: 0WThinking Machines: Inkling Small: 3W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo
Claude Opus 4.51,568
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small—
Coding Elo
Claude Opus 4.51,574
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small—
LiveBench
Claude Opus 4.571.2%
livebench · Aug 17, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small—
SWE-bench
Claude Opus 4.576.8%
swebench · Aug 17, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small—
GPQA Diamond
Claude Opus 4.584.1%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small—
Time to first token
Claude Opus 4.5380 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small—
Output speed
Claude Opus 4.562 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small—
Input priceThinking Machines: Inkling Small (+$4.55/1M)
Claude Opus 4.5$5/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small$0.45/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Output priceThinking Machines: Inkling Small (+$23.8/1M)
Claude Opus 4.5$25/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small$1.2/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Context windowThinking Machines: Inkling Small (+324k)
Claude Opus 4.5200k
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small524k
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
BenchmarkClaude Opus 4.5Thinking Machines: Inkling SmallAdvantage Delta
Preference Elo
1,568
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
——
Coding Elo
1,574
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
——
LiveBench
71.2%
livebench · Aug 17, 2026
——
SWE-bench
76.8%
swebench · Aug 17, 2026
——
GPQA Diamond
84.1%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
——
Time to first token
380 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
——
Output speed
62 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
——
Input price
$5/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
$0.45/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (+$4.55/1M)
Output price
$25/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
$1.2/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (+$23.8/1M)
Context window
200k
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
524k
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (+324k)
Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save up to 94% with Thinking Machines: Inkling Small
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
Claude Opus 4.5$550.00 / mo
In: $175Out: $375
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small$33.75 / mo
In: $15.75Out: $18
Estimated Cost Delta

Thinking Machines: Inkling Small is estimated to save $516.25/month ($6,195/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    Thinking Machines: Inkling Small:Pick Thinking Machines: Inkling Small when you are optimizing output cost.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsinsufficient data

Need SWE-bench on both sides.

High-volume chatThinking Machines: Inkling Small

Lower output list price ($1.2/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient data

Need TTFT on both sides.

Long-document RAGThinking Machines: Inkling Small

Larger window (524k).

Screenshots / visionClaude Opus 4.5

Claude Opus 4.5 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsinsufficient dataNeed SWE-bench on both sides.
High-volume chatThinking Machines: Inkling SmallLower output list price ($1.2/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient dataNeed TTFT on both sides.
Long-document RAGThinking Machines: Inkling SmallLarger window (524k).
Screenshots / visionClaude Opus 4.5Claude Opus 4.5 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news
launchFeb 20, 2026

Claude Opus 4.5 and the Feb 2026 SWE-bench row we still cite

The Feb refresh made 4.5 a coding reference. Newer Opus SKUs exist; this row stays as the dated harness point.

Community Sentiment

Cast Your Matchup Vote

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CompareLLM Matrix

Verified head-to-head card

LIVE
VS
Anthropic

Claude Opus 4.5

Elo 1,568
LiveBench71.2%
SWE-bench76.8%
Speed62 tok/s
Output cost$25/1M
thinkingmachines

Thinking Machines: Inkling Small

Elo n/a
LiveBench—
SWE-bench—
Speed—
Output cost$1.2/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Claude Opus 4.5 or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small?
We do not have preference Elo for both models, so we do not declare an overall winner. Compare the metrics that exist.
Which is better at coding, Claude Opus 4.5 or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small?
SWE-bench is missing for at least one model, so we do not rank coding from a single number.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small output tokens are $1.2/1M versus $25/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Claude Opus 4.5 or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small?
We do not have TTFT for both models.
Which has the larger context window?
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small accepts 524k tokens versus 200k.
Can I self-host either model?
Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?
No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?
Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Claude Opus 4.5 and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • launch · Feb 20, 2026

    Claude Opus 4.5 and the Feb 2026 SWE-bench row we still cite

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Claude Opus 4.5 matchups →|All Thinking Machines: Inkling Small matchups →
Claude Opus 4.5 vs Claude Opus 4 (previous opus)Claude Opus 4.5 vs Claude Opus 4.6 (next opus)Claude Sonnet 5 vs Claude Opus 4.5Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Opus 4.5Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude Opus 4.5Claude Fable 5 vs Claude Opus 4.5